Key Points:
- Still, 150 missing in Uttrakhand Glacier Burst 2021.
- The dead number might go to 171 in this horrible incident in Uttrakhand 2021.
- Major floods occasioned by a glacier burst in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli wiped away the Rishiganga hydro project.
- The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) meet on Sunday to study the Chamoli floods tragedy.
- The floods also impacted NTPC’s downstream hydro project at Tapovan across the Dhauliganga river.
On Sunday, major floods occasioned by a glacier burst in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli wiped away the Rishiganga hydro project under construction and caused severe damage to the 530MW Dhauliganga hydel plant, officials informed of the developments stated.
According to the note shared by NCMC:
Over the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) meet on Sunday to study the Chamoli floods tragedy that was possibly induced by a glacial lake explosion. As per a note shared by NCMC, the accident led to a rise in water levels throughout the Rishiganga river, wiping away the 13.2MW Rishiganga small hydro project.
The floods also affected the downstream hydro project of NTPC:
As per people aware of the changes, the floods also impacted NTPC’s downstream hydro project at Tapovan across the Dhauliganga river, a River Alaknanda tributary.
Near Raini village, the strength of the water, as well as boulders running down through the upper, reaches washed out the under-construction Rishiganga, as well as the debris, raved into the Dhauli Ganga river over there causing massive damage to the 530 MW Dhauliganga hydel project, barely 10 km away.
A person from Village Dhan Singh Rawat:
The river flowed 10-15 meters well above regular level and took it all with it. Dhan Singh Rawat, who rushed out from his house in Raini village after hearing a massive explosion, claimed that only a few concrete pillars on the banks remain of the Rishi Ganga Hydel project.
The spokesman for the Uttarkhand disaster relief force Alok Raven stated:
Alok Raven, the spokesman for the Uttarkhand disaster relief force, says that the rescue teams eventually recovered two bodies from the Dhauliganga hydel-power plant.
The Indo Tibetan Border Police spokesman Vivek Pandey stated:
The spokesman for the paramilitary Indo Tibetan Border Police, Vivek Pandey, stated that the Dhauliganga hydropower plant was affected while the Rishiganga hydropower plant has been demolished.
He said the Dhauliganga plant had at least 42 employees stuck inside two tunnels. Although 12 staff trapped within one tunnel have been rescued, at least 30 others were still trapped inside the another he said. There were another 170 missing employees at the two factories, Pandey said.
Development of the Rishiganga Hydel project may cause major damage:
Citizens of the village of Raini informed the Uttarakhand High Court nearly two years ago that the Rishiganga Hydel project’s development may cause major damage to those residing in the area Villagers lodged a public interest lawsuit in the court during the summer of 2019.
This ordered district magistrate Chamoli and member state pollution control board secretary to form a joint team to examine the site of the Rishiganga Hydroelectric Project, including allegations of environmental and local impacts.
